Today's Children Are Tomorrow's Parents.
Parenting is one of the most challenging and difficult responsibilities a person can face. The way a family is structured is called the parenting style. Parenting styles are collections of parental attitudes, practices, and nonverbal expressions that characterize the nature of parent-child relationships. Because individuals learn how to parent from many different examples including their own parents, role models, and society and life experiences, parenting techniques can vary greatly from household to household; however, experts believe that parenting styles can be broken down into three main categories which include permissive, authoritarian, and authoritative. The style of parenting with which children are raised can profoundly affect their social development, as well as their abilities to deal with life situations as adults.
Parents who follow the permissive style of parenting have very few rules, no consistent limits, and more often than not give in to their children. In a permissive family, the children are in charge. This style of parenting is similar to the screen on a window, while implying the presence of boundaries, it lacks the ability to enforce them. Because of this lack of consistency, when permissive parents do make rules they usually fail to enforce them. Permissive parents make excuses for the child like, "She"ll go to bed when she is tired." instead of setting a mandatory bedtime, or "She refuses to eat anything but cake for breakfast." instead of requiring the child to eat something nutritious. Since children who grow up with permissive parents are used to doing whatever they want without thinking of others, they have trouble getting along with others and tend to be spoiled and selfish. As adults, these children also tend to have problems with authority and conforming to rules. They tend to be unprepared for the competitiveness of the adult world, and face many adjustment difficulties when dealing with others.
